World datelines

Britain: Protests

LONDON — Police in fluorescent jackets stood between hundreds of anti-Islam protesters and anti-racist counter-demonstrators in the English city of Manchester on Saturday, arresting 48 people in a bid to keep the peace.

Police locked down a section of the city center as about 2,000 people gathered. Most of those arrested, all men, were suspected of public order offenses. Several people suffered minor injuries in sporadic scuffles.

A group called the English Defense League, which says it opposes militant Islam, squared off against a larger group of counter-demonstrators from the group Unite Against Fascism.

Cuba: Flu deaths

HAVANA — Cuba has acknowledged its first deaths from swine flu, saying three pregnant women succumbed to the virus and many more have been treated for symptoms.

Deputy Health Minister Jose Angel Portal said a total of 2,100 pregnant women were treated for symptoms of the disease, with 110 of them seriously ill, in comments reported by the official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, on Saturday.

He said three pregnant women died of the disease.

Iraq: Alcohol ban

BAGHDAD — Local Iraqi authorities have outlawed alcohol in the province of Najaf, home to the holiest Shiite city, saying it contradicts the principles of Islam.

The decision to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol highlights efforts by religious parties to win support with Shiite voters before crucial parliamentary elections this January.

Ireland: Coalition

DUBLIN — Members of Ireland's environmentalist Green Party voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to stay in Prime Minister Brian Cowen's coalition government as it battles a runaway deficit, surging unemployment and crippled banks.

Defeat for the Green leaders' pro-government motion at a special party conference would have torpedoed Cowen's 2-year-old coalition and forced Ireland into an early parliamentary election.

France: Pirates